Hi! My name is James.

The short version : Analytically minded individual trying something new and different out and seeing if it produces different results.

The long version : My personal philosophy is that learning never stops so I try to keep myself well informed and read. I am honest, and appreciate the same in return. I am goal oriented in my personal and professional life.

“Wherever the wind blows” is the guiding principle/attitude I have adopted when it comes to making decisions. After growing up in Texas and graduating high school, I served a mission in Germany. Upon returning to Texas, I was aimlessly attending college classes and working at a local agriculture research lab. There I was exposed to data analytics and statistics. This discovery provided me a focus on what to major in and what I really wanted to do.

Starting August 2004, I was at BYU getting a BS in Statistics. I took advantage of the plethora of outdoor offerings that Provo provided ( snowboarding , hiking , camping ) while there. I completed my undergraduate degree in December 2007, and took the next semester to do research before working on a MS(!--span) in Statistics from August 2008 until April 2010.

After BYU, I spent 3 years in the Kansas City area working as a Statistician in online advertising arena providing performance based insights and utilizing data to solve hard problems. Recently ( March 2013 ) I changed jobs and moved to Dallas. Now I work as a Data Scientist for a retailer, working on recommendations and optimization.

I read once that people with pets live longer; so to keep me on my toes, I adopted 2 Bengal kittens mid-2012 which continue to be a learning and growing exercise.

I have a wide variety of hobbies : reading, pyrotechnics ( fireworks ), cycling, cooking, and video games to name a few.